Amy Peck

Are you prepared for the next wave of technology? We spend a lot of time following futurists and tech experts who “predict” the future. However, we are in the throes of an old concept: Life Imitates Art and Art Imitates Life. There is a lot of misconception (and fear) that future tech will consume us, robots will replace us and AI will destroy us.

We will look at the impact these technologies will make on our personal and professional lives, changing how we work, learn and play. These technologies will merge to bring us into an entirely new era of reality. We are in a position to create the future, not just predict it.

This session will explore:

• Our digital future with Blockchain, AI, Deep Learning, Robotics
• How Pop Culture influences technology
• Overcoming the fear of technology
• Redefining value with Cryptocurrencies
• How individuals and companies can prepare for the wave of future tech

We know the value of Enterprise XR. We know the myriad use cases across almost every vertical. While we recognize the challenges of bringing XR into the Enterprise, there is a relatively clear path. Commercial adoption is obstructed by issues that for the most part will be solved with the evolution of the tech – form factor, field of view, bandwidth, ECDN, etc. Other factors, including workforce reticence, investment requirements and overall lack of understanding across decision-makers, need to be overcome differently.

This session will explore:

• Synergies between mobile AR, Social VR, Web XR, and consumers
• Consumers are also our executives and workforce
• Making the tech accessible
• How LBEs figure into the equation
• The path to adoption

While many companies and institutions understand the need to investigate AR/VR (XR), the path to success is a long one. In many cases, there are several disparate teams at a single company looking at ways to leverage this technology, for internal processes as well as customer- and consumer-facing solutions. What is often missing is a cohesive strategy to deploy XR solutions at scale.

This talk will explore ways to effectively bring this vision to fruition:

• Identifying the right use cases
• Getting internal buy-in and budget
• Finding development resources and platform partners
• Developing economies of scale across multiple business lines
• Rolling out new AR/VR processes and products
• Integrating into legacy systems

Two years ago, there was a rush for ad agencies and branding firms to create immersive experiences for their retail clients. Unfortunately, a lack of understanding of the tech coupled with consumer indifference led to millions of dollars being spent, very little ROI and a marked decrease in spending for XR experiences.

Now, armed with lessons learned, we are on the verge of a new paradigm with XR, brands/retail and advertising/marketing opportunities using this medium. So, what’s next?

We will cover:

• What went wrong early on
• How XR is poised to promote brand loyalty
• The new approach to immersive experiences for brands
• How traditional advertising models will shift in XR
• The future of retail and brands with XR

With more and more XR content, from games to IP experiences to cinematic VR, is LBE the distribution channel of choice? Will LBEs be the gateway to consumer adoption?

In this session, we will look at LBEs role with XR content:

• A high-level overview of the landscape (The Void, IMAX, Two Bit Circus, Hologate, Viveport Arcade etc)
• Content and The Creators (Nomadic, Felix & Paul, Fable)
• Beyond the Arcade – other concepts and form factors
• The economics of LBEs
• Leveraging LBEs into headset sales

Many companies, especially those in automotive and industrial design, are utilizing different collaboration strategies for remote teams. We will explore some of the practical collaboration tools available today, from the boardroom to design, from education and training to industry.

But beyond the practical element, there is a broader opportunity to inspire all of us to think differently about collaboration as a mechanism for change. Yes, we have the capability to build life-changing solutions in the industries of healthcare, education, and travel. As we enter this age of virtual worlds, the boundaries are blurred and a vision of cross-cultural exploration and understanding is taking shape.

There are some big ideas around the future of education and XR is an exciting part of this evolution. In this session, we will look at ways we can engage students on a deeper level and leverage the power of XR to fundamentally improve the childhood experience.

We will share ideas around the opportunity, the challenges and a vision for the future of XR in EDU:

• Use Cases and curriculum
• Adoption in schools
• Data and metrics
• Practical introduction of XR in schools
• XR’s social impact and potential
• Global collaboration

Simulation and Training has long been used by the government and industrial entities with great success. However, this often involved prohibitively expensive “bucks” or physical training machinery and proprietary software licenses. In this new age of XR, the opportunity for all companies to leverage this technology for training is broad. This session explores the numerous ways companies can leverage this technology.

We will highlight:

• Use cases
• Equipment training
• Safety training
• Management training
• Compliance training
• HR, PR & Customer facing solutions
• Creating a global strategy around training
• Building a product and deployment roadmap – from POC to adoption
• Identifying economies of scale
• Existing vs. bespoke solutions
• Sim & training platforms and software
• Integration considerations

Adoption and distribution have been the primary roadblocks for XR Entertainment including games, cinematic VR and 360 video. The content is becoming more and more compelling, Location-based entertainment (LBE) is starting to make distribution possible, so where do we go from here?

We will explore:

• Content types and viability
• Distribution opportunities
• XR in the home
• The new hardware
• What’s next?

Virtual, Augmented & Mixed Reality (XR) are poised to disrupt Healthcare and Pharma practices in meaningful ways. This session will delve into how companies can leverage this technology across business lines from R&D, simulation & training, formulation, bioprocessing, digital pill tracking, digital therapeutics, compliance training, manufacturing, and technology transfer lifecycle to name a few.

We will cover:

• A high-level overview of the technologies and hardware
• Current capabilities of XR
• Near-term evolution of XR
• Use cases & programs in operation
• The future of XR integrating with other technology i.e. Blockchain, AI, Machine Learning, Eye Tracking

What do healthcare practitioners, scientists, researchers on the one hand and game developers on the other hand, have in common? They are combining forces to create the next generation of Healthcare and BioTech solutions.

AR & VR (XR) is not just for games – it is the next computing platform and it will be ubiquitous within a decade.

In this session, we will cover:

• A high-level overview of the technologies and hardware
• Current capabilities and near-term evolution of XR
• Use cases & programs in operation
  – Research & Development
  – Behavioral Health
  – Physical Therapy & Rehab
  – 3D Scans/OR Planning
  – Remote Collaboration
  – Patient Care
• XR integration with other technology i.e. Blockchain, AI, Machine Learning, Eye Tracking
• What’s next?

This is an oft-overlooked area of bringing AR/VR to Enterprise. Yes, the solution must solve a problem or improve a process. Yes, the solution must be engaging to the end user. But the user experience is only a small part of the story.

We will look at the broader implications of bringing this technology into existing systems:

• Data In
  – Importing 2D & 3D Data Sets
  – Scaling & Manipulating Data in 3D
  –  Visualizing Data in XR
• Data Out
  – Recording Interactions
  – Eye- & Body-Tracking
  – Data Analytics
  – Merging XR Data with Existing Systems
• Applying Machine Learning & AI

Everyone is talking about AR & VR. Some are developing amazing (and not-so-amazing) experiences. This session will show how marketers can effectively leverage AR & VR technologies. We will look at ways to create truly engaging content while avoiding some of the pitfalls of new & shiny tech. We will include examples of some of the best AR/VR experiences today and what the future holds as the technology evolves.

We will go beyond the “immersive experience” to share best practices and ideally inspire a wealth of new ideas:

• Identify the right use cases – making the experiences BETTER not just NEW
• Engage & excite customers in creative new ways
• Showcase the latest experiences & technology – virtual design, dressing rooms, travel, historical re-enactments, entertainment, sports training and more!
• Share today’s capabilities and take a peek into the future of AR, VR and other frontier technologies

Don’t just jump on the AR/VR bandwagon…drive it.

Even with the myriad STEM programs, in primary schools, universities and extracurriculars, we are still seeing a decline in STEM degrees in universities, especially among women and minorities. The rate of attrition falls roughly between 50% and 65% depending on the degree program. (Eagan et al., 2014; Van Noy and Zeidenberg, 2014).

Can we change this using XR? This session will share some of the existing XR curriculum and what the future may hold for students learning STEM in a 3D environment. And beyond that, we will look at how developing strong STEM skills for an entire generation of students might ultimately impact our future.